Methods and systems for managing telecommunications

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for call processing are described. A call from a caller intended for a first party is received at a call processing system, which stores call signaling information associated with the call. A greeting is played to the caller, and a voice communication is received and recorded. At least a first portion of the voice communication is transmitted in substantially real time to a terminal associated with the first person. At least a portion of the voice communication is converted to text and the text is stored and transmitted to a terminal associated with the first party. When a search query is received from the first party, the system searches the data store to determine if there is matching call having related matching call information. If there is a matching call, related information may be provided to the first party.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/971,097, filed Jan. 8, 2008, which claimspriority from U.S. Patent Application No. 60/908,123, filed Mar. 26,2007, the content of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED R&D

Not applicable.

PARTIES OF JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, TABLE, OR COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is related to telecommunications, and inparticular, to methods and systems for retaining, organizing,presenting, and responding to calls and messages.

2. Description of the Related Art

There is a wealth of information exchanged when people use their phones.Conventionally only a very limited part of this information is captured,in the form of messages, and usually only briefly while it is ofimmediate use and then it is discarded. Some of this information, suchas pictures and contacts, may be retained longer, but it is difficultfor the user to manage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to telecommunications, and inparticular, to methods and systems which can be utilized for retaining,organizing, presenting, and/or responding to calls, messages, and otherobjects.

An example embodiment provides a method of call processing, comprising:receiving at a call processing system a call from a caller intended fora first party; storing at least a portion of the call signalinginformation associated with the call in a computer readable medium;playing a greeting to the caller; receiving a voice communication fromthe caller; recording the voice communication from the caller;transmitting in substantially real time from the call processing systemat least a first portion of the voice communication to a terminalassociated with the first person; converting at least a portion of thevoice communication to text; transmitting at least a portion of thevoice communication text to a terminal associated with the first party;storing in a data store voice communication text for later access by thefirst party; receiving a search query from the first party; searchingthe data store to determine if there is matching call having relatedmatching call information stored in the data store; and at least partlyin response to determining that there is a matching call, providinginformation related to the matching call to the first party.

An example embodiment provides a method of managing telecommunicationsdata, comprising: receiving a call from a caller intended for a firstparty; recording a voice message from the caller; automaticallytransmitting voice message text corresponding to at least a portion ofthe voice message to a terminal associated with the first party; andstoring in a data store external to a mobile telephone associated withthe first party voice message text for later access by the first party.

An example embodiment provides a method of processing a call comprising:receiving at a telecommunications processing system a first call;receiving a facsimile communication intended for a first person duringthe first call; converting at least a portion of the facsimilecommunication into a text message; storing at least a portion of callsignaling information associated with the first call; storing the textmessage and/or an image file corresponding to the facsimilecommunication in a location accessible by the first person; and enablingthe first user to search signaling information and/or the text of thefacsimile message.

An example embodiment provides a method of processing a call comprising:receiving at a call processing system a first call from a callerintended for a first person including call signaling information;recording a voice communication from the caller; converting at least aportion of the caller's voice communication into text; transmitting acall notification regarding the first call to a terminal associated withthe first person; enabling the first person to search at least a portionof the signaling information and/or the text; providing the first personwith access to the text and at least a portion of the call signalinginformation; and enabling the first person to edit the text and/or callsignaling information.

An example embodiment provides a method of processing a call comprising:transmitting a communication from a first person to a second person viaa call processing system; storing routing information associated withthe communication; enabling the first person and/or the second person tosearch the routing information; if the communication is a voice message,converting at least a portion of the voice communication to text andstoring the text, if the communication is a facsimile message,converting at least a portion of the facsimile message to text andstoring the facsimile text, enabling the first person and/or the secondperson to search the facsimile text; if the communication is a textcommunication, enabling the first person and/or the second person tosearch the text communication.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described withreference to the drawings summarized below. These drawings and theassociated description are provided to illustrate example embodiments ofthe invention, and not to limit the scope of the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network operating environment for advancedtelecommunications services.

FIG. 2 illustrates a first example telecommunications client call logand user contact interface.

FIG. 3 illustrates a second example Web-based telecommunications clientcall log and user contact interface.

FIG. 4 illustrates a third example Widget-based telecommunicationsclient call log user interface.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example operating environment/process for a calland text response.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is related to telecommunications, and inparticular, to methods and systems which can be utilized for retaining,organizing, presenting, and/or responding to calls, messages, and otherobjects.

As discussed above, there is a wealth of information exchanged whenpeople use their phones. This trail of information often has long termvalue to the individual if it can be retained, organized, and madeeasily searchable. The information trail in effect expands a user'spersonal, searchable memory. Certain embodiments optionally store thisinformation indefinitely or for an extended period of time.

In particular, certain embodiments provide methods and systems whichenable a service provider to offer services that allow subscribers tostore a collection of objects (e.g., calls and messages). These objectsof interest to the subscriber are optionally accumulated as calls occurand messages are exchanged. Certain data/objects of interest areorganized to be useful and are readily accessible to the subscriber fromvarious devices. The data/objects are optionally retained indefinitely(or for an extended or designated period of time) in a reliable andaccessible file store.

Retaining and organizing calls and messages improves a subscriber'soverall communication experience, increasing the attractiveness andvalue to the subscriber of the service provider's telecommunicationsservice offering. Further, optionally the data store for a subscriber isnot available to other telecommunication service providers. Thus,because the secure personalized information is not available to anotherservice provider, a subscriber would be less likely to switch to anotherservice provider as this may result in a loss of access to thepersonalized information. Therefore, services described herein can actas a subscriber retention tool for a service provider as the subscriberwould not want to lose access to the personalized information.

Certain embodiments of the call processing system described in theapplication provide call and message services using conditionmonitors/triggers, such as SS7 Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN)triggers. In an example embodiment, to support this service, the serviceprovider configures a trigger at the appropriate points in an inboundand/or outbound call for a customer/subscriber. In an exampleembodiment, when a certain trigger fires, a call processing system(e.g., acting as a Service Control Point (SCP) in the SS7 network, andconnecting calls from one phone line to another, using, for example,software running on a computer system), receives a query that enablesthe call processing system to control, at least in part, the call andoptionally control the visual presentation of the call (or message) tothe caller, and/or the called party.

In an example embodiment, enhanced call management and call routingservices are provided via Common Channel Signaling (CCS) or CommonChannel Interoffice Signaling (CCIS) information, such as, by way ofexample, via SS7 Intelligent Network (IN) triggers in the switches oflocal exchange telephone companies. For example, SS7 AIN triggers areset in the switches of carriers, such as Carrier Partners (e.g.,carriers who are partners with a third party call processing operator inproviding enhanced call processing services) to provide callingservices. In another example, SS7 Wireless Intelligent Network (WIN)triggers are set in the mobile switches of wireless carriers, such aswireless carrier partners, to provide calling services. In anotherexample, Non-Intelligent Network Signaling (e.g., ISDN, CLASS CallForwarding services) is used to originate, terminate, forward, andbridge calls.

Throughout the following description, the term “Web site” or “Web” isused to refer to a user-accessible network site that implements thebasic World Wide Web standards for the coding and transmission ofhypertextual documents. These standards currently include HTML (theHypertext Markup Language) and HTTP (the Hypertext Transfer Protocol).It should be understood that the term “site” is not intended to imply asingle geographic location, as a Web or other network site can, forexample, include multiple geographically distributed computer systemsthat are appropriately linked together. Furthermore, while the followingdescription relates to an embodiment utilizing the Internet and relatedprotocols, other networks, such as networked interactive televisions,and other protocols may be used as well.

Further, while the following description refers to example network andtelephony standards and protocols, other standards and protocols can beused as well. The term phone address can include a SIP address, a Skypeaddress (or other peer-to-peer Internet telephony network address), awireless phone number, an International number, an E.164 phone number,or other address. While Skype is referred to herein, other peer-to-peertelephony networks (e.g., having a decentralized and distributed userdirectory distributed among the nodes in the peer-to-peer telephonynetwork) may be used as well. While certain phone addresses arereferenced for purposes of illustration, other electronic addresses orlocators can be used as well.

In addition, while reference may be made to electronic address books orcontact lists, other data stores and formats can be used to storecontact information. While certain intelligent network triggers arereferred to herein, other triggers or events can be used as well. Inaddition, unless otherwise indicated, the functions described herein maybe performed by executable code and instructions stored in computerreadable memory and running on one or more processor-based systems.However, state machines, and/or hardwired electronic circuits can alsobe utilized. Further, with respect to the example processes describedherein, not all the process states need to be reached, nor do the stateshave to be performed in the illustrated order. Further, certain processstates that are illustrated as being serially performed can be performedin parallel.

Similarly, while certain examples may refer to a personal computersystem or data device, other computer or electronic systems can be usedas well, such as, without limitation, an interactive television, anetworked-enabled personal digital assistant (PDA), a networked gameconsole, a networked entertainment device, a smart phone (e.g., with anoperating system and on which a user can install applications) and soon. While certain references are made to certain example systemcomponents or services, other components and services can be used aswell. In addition, while certain user inputs are described as beingprovided via phone key presses or by clicking on a button, optionally,user inputs can be provides using other techniques, such as by voice orotherwise. While certain phone numbers are referenced for purposes ofillustration, other phone numbers or electronic addresses or locatorscan be used as well.

While some examples refer to certain example messaging protocols (e.g.,SMS or MMS) for illustrative purposes, other messaging protocols can beused as well (e.g., instant messaging, email, etc.).

In addition, certain call management capabilities described herein makeuse of a telecommunications client (e.g., a personal computer client, aclient hosted on an interactive television, a network personal digitalassistant, a smart phone, or a wireless phone with an Internetconnection, etc.) to give the customer access to and management of calls(e.g., see example user interfaces illustrated in FIGS. 2-4) andmessages left for the customer. Optionally, a customer can have multipleclients hosted on multiple computers or other hosts. The same or similarfunctionality is optionally provided via a Web browser interface.

In an example embodiment, the telecommunications client application (seeFIG. 2) connects to and communicates with a call processing system viathe Internet, an intranet, or other network. The client application,executing on a subscriber's computer terminal or other host, can makethe subscriber's online presence known to the call processing system(e.g., by transmitting a message over the Internet to the callprocessing system). Optionally, the client can be used to receive, edit,and display call log data from the call processing system (e.g., a listof calls placed to/received by the subscriber, or placed by thesubscriber, including phone numbers, caller or called party names,date/time of the call, an indication as to whether a call was anoutbound/inbound call, the city/state of the caller/called party, typeof call voice or fax, other call signaling information, etc.), and/orcall alert data (e.g., for an active call, listing the caller phonenumber, name, city/state, and/or call status (e.g., ringing, playinggreeting, recording caller message, terminating call, displaying fax)).Optionally, the call alert also plays an audible signal, such as a ringtone.

The client application can display a log of recorded messages fromcallers, and optionally can provide playback controls (e.g., play, fastforward, rewind) for playing back or displaying the recorded message(e.g., a voice message, a video message, a fax message, etc.) via theclient computer terminal. The client optionally can also be used toscreen calls (e.g., wherein the call processing system streams a messagebeing left by a caller to the client so that the called party can listento the message in substantially real time) and to instruct the callprocessing system to accept calls on the host computer terminal, forwardcalls, refuse calls, initiate call conferencing, and to otherwiseprovide call handling instructions. Options are also provided in theclient to respond to calls using a text reply option and/or multimediareply option. In addition, options are provided whereby a user cansearch their contact database and/or the web.

For example, when a call alert is received by the client, as part ofcall presentation, a ringing sound is optionally played via the clienthost. Optionally, the incoming call is displayed in a call alert userinterface for a first amount of time (e.g., a set time, such as 5seconds, or for a user configurable period of time), and then the callappears in the associated call log.

A telecommunications client is just an example user interface. FIG. 3illustrates another example call log user interface presented via abrowser to a customer. The browser can be executing on a computerterminal, such as a personal computer, a Wireless Application Protocol(WAP) or browser-enabled phone, a PDA or the like. The call log can beaccessed by supplying the appropriate URL to the browser and optionallyproviding log-on information, such as a user name and a password.

Some or all of the information and functionality provided by the userinterfaces discussed can be provided by a widget or a gadget, FIG. 4. Awidget can be in the form of a portable code that can be installed andexecuted within a Web page (e.g., an HTML-based web page) by an end userwithout requiring additional compilation. By way of illustration, awidget can be in the form of a window (with or without a border) with aparticular appearance and behavior, a text box, a media player, etc. Awidget can optionally accept and process user inputs. A gadget isequivalent to a widget that works in a Google framework. The termwidgets can also encompass a badge, module, capsule, snippet, mini, orflake. Other types of applications can be used as well to provide thefunctionality of a widget or gadget.

The functionality, operation, and implementation for an example serviceretaining, organizing, presenting, and responding to calls, messages,other objects will now be described in further detail.

GLOSSARY

-   -   AIN—Advanced Intelligent Network    -   CNAM—Calling Name    -   CP—Carrier Partner    -   IP—Intelligent Peripheral    -   LIDB—Line Information Database    -   LNP—Local Number Portability    -   MMS—Multimedia message service    -   MSC—Mobile Switching Center    -   SCP—Service Control Point    -   SMPP—Short Message Peer-to-Peer Protocol    -   SMS—Short Message Service    -   SMSC—Short Message Switching Center    -   SSP—Service Switching Point    -   SS7—Signaling System 7    -   TCAP—Transaction Capabilities Application Part    -   WIN—Wireless Intelligent Network

FIG. 1 illustrates an example advanced telecommunications networkenvironment. A service provider or carrier (e.g., a Carrier Partner)customer may have one or more landline or wireless phones 102 thatconnect to a local exchange switch, an SSP 112, or an MSC 114 in thecarrier's network 110. The customer may also have one or more hosts(e.g., personal computers, networked televisions, personal digitalassistants, smart phone, etc.) running a telecommunications client 108.In addition, a customer may have one or more phones connected to abroadband connection (e.g., via a cable modem or DSL modem) wherein thephone (e.g., an analog phone coupled to an analog phone adapter (ATA), aVoIP phone, a Skype phone, etc.) digitizes and packetizes voice databefore transmitting over the broadband connection (e.g., using SIP,Skype/peer-to-peer, or other protocol) to a call routing serviceprovider or other destination.

The telecommunications client 108 has one or more user interfaces thatdisplay some or all of the following: a call log, text messages(including transcribed voice message), a contact record/list, anoptional automated character, and active, in-progress calls. Thecustomer can elect to screen or take an active call or respond to acaller with a text message. Optionally, calls can also be made(originated) via the telecommunications client (e.g., where the host isequipped with a speaker and microphone). Optionally, information about acaller can be retrieved through a search function.

In this example, a call processing system 121 has a number ofcomponents, some of which are optionally centralized at a givenlocation, others of which may be co-located in the carrier's network(e.g., to reduce network transport costs). An SCP is an optional AINcomponent that interacts with the SSPs (e.g., using the TCAP protocol).AIN triggers are armed for the customer's landline phonenumber/address/account so that when calls are made to or from thatphone, a trigger fires and causes the SSP 112 to query the SCP forinstructions on how to handle the call. The SCP is optionally alsoconfigured to perform TCAP queries to other SS7 components as needed bysome services (e.g., request Automatic Callback from another carrier'sswitch when a line becomes idle).

In a non-AIN deployment, the call processing system 121 optionallyinterconnects with the PSTN using, by way of example, SS7 signaling. Inthis case, in an example embodiment, the SS7 signaling informationassociated with a call terminates on a Call Controller subsystem or thelike, and the trunks (or bearer channels) terminate on one or more callmanagers (described further below). Optionally instead, the CallController subsystem and/or associated functions thereof, are includedin a call manager subsystem 122.

In a VoIP deployment scenario, the call processing system 121interconnects with the PSTN through an IP connection using, for example,Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) signaling. The IP network is optionallydirectly connected to Internet devices or calls are gatewayed fromIP-to-PSTN at Network Points-of-Presence (NetPOP) which provide accesspoints to the Internet.

In an example embodiment, SS7 WIN triggers are set in the mobileswitches of wireless carriers (e.g., wireless carrier Partners) toprovide similar calling services as described herein with respect to alandline phone for a customer's mobile phone number/address/account.

In an example embodiment, the call processing system 121 also containsone or more systems referred to as call managers 122. The call managers122 are connected to the PSTN (e.g., via ISDN using the ISUP (ISDN UserPart) protocol, by way of example, although other protocols can beused). The call managers 122 provide some or all of the following:provide a call screening service when screening is to be provided,record a message from a caller that is to be recorded, provide a voiceprompt or message that is to be played to a caller and/or called party,record a facsimile document, detect speech or DTMF tones, convert speechthat needs to be converted to text, and/or provide a gateway between theSS7-based networks (PSTN) and SIP-based networks (VoIP). The examplecall manager 122 optionally can also act as an IP (IntelligentPeripheral), another AIN component that the SCP can instruct the SSP toconnect into the call for interaction with the called and calling party.The IP/call managers 122 and SCPs in the call processing system 121optionally share a Call Registry that stores information about activecalls.

The session managers 128 in the call processing system 121 optionallytrack telecommunication client presence and interact with a giventelecommunications client (e.g., a client application hosted on apersonal computer, PDA, smart phone, or a networked television) as calllog, contact, and/or customer data needs to be synchronized with thecentralized databases to provide the customer, via the client, withupdated log, contact, and/or customer data. The session managers 128also optionally provide the SCP in an AIN environment and call manager122 in a non-AIN environment with service configuration information forthe customer involved in a call. During an active call, the SCP and/orIP/call manager 122 optionally directly or indirectly interact with thetelecommunications client 108, a phone portal 106, or a widget 104 toprovide call progress information, provide message text, and to streamaudio and/or visual content.

The call processing system 121 in this example contains centralizeddatabases and/or a general-purpose storage area, optionally including,but not limited to, some or all of the following: a call log database, acontacts database, and a customer database 134. Optionally, thedatabases are not centralized and may be distributed geographicallyand/or over different systems. In this example, short term storage 138,140, and long term storage 142, 144 may include one or more of theforegoing databases. Data stored in the short term storage may be copiedor transferred to long term storage 142, 144 after a specified period oftime or periodically. The long term storage 142, 144 may include, by wayof example, optical storage, magnetic disk drives, and/or tape storage.

The call log database stores call events and related data for incomingand/or outgoing calls and text and/or multimedia messages. The contactsdatabase stores information and parameters (e.g., names, identifiers,phone numbers/addresses, birthdays, notes, automated characters, and/orother information) associated with a sender, called, or calling party.

The customer database 134 stores information and parameters (e.g.,account data, configuration information, and/or other information)associated with users (e.g., subscribers/customers). For example, acustomer account can include an indication as to whether archive andphone management services provided via the call processing system 121are to be enabled or displayed (e.g., wherein certain service packagesand/or service prices do not include the archival and phone managementservice, and certain service packages and/or service prices include thearchival and phone management service).

The call processing system 121 optionally includes other subsystems,such as some or all of the following: a router subsystem, which servesas an interface to the Internet 120 to manage communications betweenonline IP client devices and call processing servers, an SMS serversubsystem 124 which serves as a mail relay to transmit and receive SMSand MMS messages via an SMSC 118, a search engine 136 which can be usedto search and sort archived calls, text and voice messages, contacts,and other kinds of phone related objects, a Customer RelationshipManagement (CRM) system 130 for monitoring and analyzing usage data andpromoting new products and services and for providing relatedinformation to a operator terminal 146, a web server subsystem 126 tomanage a “web site” associated with the call processing system 121(e.g., via which a user can access an account set-up/configuration userinterface, a call log, a contacts database, etc., using a browser orother network user interface), etc. These subsystems are optionallyinterconnected via a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area PrivateNetwork (WAN), and/or a Wide Area Public Network (e.g., Internet).

A variety of different types of data can be stored by the callprocessing system 121, the carrier system, or other system, and thetypes of data that can be stored is not limited to examples describedherein. The following list includes non-limiting example illustrativeobjects of the types of information that people can relate to and makelong term use of, although fewer, additional and/or different types ofinformation can be stored as well:

-   -   Call—the meta data associated with a phone call, such as, by way        of example, some or all of the following: time, duration,        disposition, and caller information (including but not limited        to caller ID, caller Name, calling number, privacy        restrictions); may also include capture (recording) of the call        conversation.    -   Contact—information about a person with which the user        interacts, such as, by way of example, how to reach them (e.g.,        phone address(es), SMS/MMS addresses, email address (es),        instant messaging address (es), and/or other addresses), other        personal information, such as a picture, title, birthday,        relationship description, family members, etc.    -   Message—voice, fax, or text message that is exchanged and the        associated meta data, and attachments such as pictures, files,        music, videos, etc.    -   Picture—a picture (or video) that is taken with the phone or        received from others.    -   Tune—music, such as a purchased piece of music with or without        digital rights management.    -   Ring tone—a ring tone in general use or associated with a        particular contact.    -   Greeting—a personal greeting for general use or associated with        a particular contact.

Some of this content is valuable to store remotely from the user phonein that it backs up information that is currently in use on the user'sphone (e.g., contact information). Other content is the kind thataccumulates over time and contains items of information that is valuableto reference later.

Information of interest is accumulated as calls occur and messages areexchanged. The information is optionally also captured as part ofroutine synchronization with the phone handset via a wireless dataconnection (e.g., via a carrier network, WiFi, Blue Tooth, etc.) or viatemporary wired connection to a computer, such as a personal computer orsmart phone. Optionally, certain information is retrieved from SS7network databases or other databases as part of a call.

Example areas of interaction where information is gathered on behalf ofthe user include some or all of the following, and/or other areas ofinteraction:

Voice Mail—Recorded voice mail. For example, voice mail may be recordedby a server when the called party is unavailable. By way ofillustration, messages may be recorded when a call is forwarded to aserver on a busy or no answer condition, or when a call directed tocalled party is otherwise answered by the server. Other callerinformation that is optionally captured and stored includes, whenavailable, the caller phone address, and this in turn can be used toquery a database (e.g., one or more of a SS7 CNAM database, a LIDB, aname cache, a contact address book, and/or other data store or source)to retrieve the caller name.

Fax Mail—This may be received in conjunction with a voice mailinteraction or by a caller directly dialing (e.g., via a dedicated faxmachine, a fax server, or a device emulating a dedicated fax machine) avirtual fax number. As similarly described above, information about thecaller (whether voice or fax) is often available and can be obtained andstored.

Short Message—Short messages (e.g., SMS text messages/MMS multimediamessages) are exchanged, by way of example, with other phones, withcomputer (e.g., personal computer) users, and/or other devices capableof accessing and/or transmitting short messages. The messages may be, byway of example and not limitation, captured at SMSC level, and forinteractions with a computer, the messages may be captured at thecomputer. Information about the sender may be a phone address or anemail address. Additionally, an IM (instant messaging) chat interactioncan be tracked and the chat communications and times recorded.

Phone Call—Information about inbound or outbound calls that do notresult in a busy or no answer condition may be captured by interceptingthe call using AIN or WIN triggers. This is non-intrusive, yet canprovide full or partial information related to the call including phoneinformation about the other party (e.g., the caller phone address,city/state, etc.), disposition of the call, and/or call duration. Thetriggers can also be used to establish a call leg by which theconversation can be conferenced with a call processing system andrecorded if so desired.

Handset Synchronization—Synchronization software is optionally deployed(e.g., on the handset and/or a separate computer system/server) wherebydata on the handset may be synchronized with the server. Thesynchronization may be originated by the handset or optionally by theserver. Optionally, synchronization may be configured (e.g., via thehandset or other system) to occur automatically when a relevant changeis detected on the handset or when the handset is notified of a changein the data archive that originated from other sources. Optionally thismay be restricted to occur only when in higher bandwidth settings, e.g.,WiFi. Synchronization may be optionally invoked manually by the user.The data synchronized may optionally include some or all of thefollowing: contacts, pictures, tunes, ring tones, music, movies,configuration information, etc.

Web or computer interfaces—The data that is archived may be optionallyaugmented from other sources (e.g., Outlook (or other personalinformation manger)), synchronization of contacts, or the data mayoptionally be directly altered by the user through Web and computerinterfaces. The Web/computer interface may act as an extension of thephone handset in that, optionally, it can make direct use of the storedinformation and generate information that is stored there as a result ofthe user generating calls or messages from that device.

As discussed above, some of the information that is gathered directly isaugmented with other related data. This optionally includes nameinformation from the SS7 CNAM database and the current carrier owning anumber from the SS7 LNP database 116. It optionally also includesaddress information (e.g., from an SS7 LIDB database). This data may beused to automatically populate all or a portion of a contact list forthe user or may be used to search for and capture other information.

Some or all of the obtained data described above is organized to beuseful and is made readily accessible to join various pieces ofinformation of interest, (e.g., based on time, personal contact, threadof interaction, or search text). Some or all of the following techniquesare optionally used to help organize the data and make it moreaccessible, examples of which are described below:

Voice-To-Text—Voice messages and conversations are converted to text(voice-to-text) via a voice-to-text engine 132 optionally using largevocabulary continuous speech recognition technology, by individualstranscribing speech, by individuals speaking clearly into speakerdependent or independent speech recognition subsystems, or somecombination of the foregoing (e.g., a combination of automatedrecognition technology and manual transcription by a human). This may beperformed as part of archiving and/or as part of initial messagepresentation. Optionally, the voice-to-text process is be configured toonly do keyword spotting (e.g., to spot words specified in a keywordfile defined by a subscriber and/or a system operator, which may includeproper/family names (e.g., John, Jane, Mom, Dad, etc.), activity words(movie, dinner, gym, etc.), to convert only the lead-in text (e.g., thefirst specified number of words (the first 10, 20, or 30 words), or thewords in a first time period (e.g., the first 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 15seconds), or to convert the entire message. Conversion to textfacilitates search and storage. Optionally, the text is indexed (e.g.,using an inverted index, a forward index, or other index, optionallyusing compression to reduce the size of indices), wherein the index issearched in response to a query to speed search performance.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR)—OCR (software that translates textimages into computer readable text) may be applied to fax messages tofacilitate searching the fax messages and to make these messages moreusable and optionally editable.

Object/Face Recognition—Pictures and/or videos may be analyzed torecognize objects and faces (e.g., using eigenface, fisherface, theHidden Markov model, Dynamic Link Matching, and/or other technique), toassign names to the pictures, and to thus allow pictures to becategorized (e.g., by the system and or the subscriber) via theassignment of keywords and/or textual descriptions, and made searchable(e.g., by keyword/descriptive text).

Interaction Threads—One or more associations that relate a sequence ofinteractions is tracked for future reference. In certain exampleinstances, such association may be via directly supplied subjectinformation or via specific IM chat sequences. Optionally, theinformation is inferred based on times, parties involved, and/or theactual or converted text involved.

In an example embodiment, data is organized around the objects discussedabove with respect to storage content. Data that has associated text canbe searched using a text search (e.g., by entering one or more datastrings into a search field, wherein the system will search for matchesand display the search results to the user). Certain data is organizedinto lists that are naturally indexed by phone number and/or name andoptionally these keys can be used to identify and access the desireddata.

As similarly discussed above, optionally, all or a specified subset ofinformation that is captured is stored indefinitely, until the userdecides to delete it (optionally even subscriber deleted information isarchived but hidden from the subscriber presentation), or for a timeperiod specified by the user and/or the system. Optionally, by defaultthe information is only permitted to be accessed by the user associatedwith the account for which data is being stored, but the user mayoptionally establish groups that are allowed to have access to specificinformation or to certain categories of information (e.g., the user'scontacts or a specified subset thereof, the user's outgoing pictures,received pictures, and/or a subset thereof, the user's voice mailmessages, or a subset thereof (e.g., those from certain specifiedcallers)). The user may define the group using a corresponding userinterface. For example, a user may activate a create group control, namethe created group, and then in effect drag the shared information intothat group (e.g., “dropping” the information onto a displayed group nameor into a displayed group file). Optionally, some information isexplicitly and optionally automatically designated or identified asprivate and may not be shared (e.g., some or all of copyrightedinformation, such as music, movies, etc.). Information about a callerthat is marked restricted in the network (e.g., the caller phone addresswhen the caller has Caller ID blocking) is optionally not shared withthe called party/user but the user may tag information received fromthat person with their name once they know it.

In an example embodiment, the security and information usage policy isclearly communicated to the user at the outset to establish trust.

Given that storage is optionally indefinite, in such circumstances thestorage is preferably large and reliable. In one embodiment, this isachieved with large redundant data farms with geographic separation,using RAID, and/or other techniques.

The stored/archived information is optionally made to be accessible fromvarious devices including optionally a computer, a handset in voice modeor data mode, a networked television, and/or other device. The accessmethod may be specific to a particular kind of information (e.g., a listof most recent calls, a list of contacts, or the text from a convertedvoice message to be sent in an SMS) or it may be very general (e.g.,search for all interactions with a particular individual in a giventimeframe that involved a particular subject). Thus, new, recentlyarrived information and/or relatively old information can be located andidentified from the stored/data.

Optionally, device specific user interfaces may be used to access thestored/archived data discussed above. For example for a computer,interactive television, or smart phone, the user interfaces can beimplemented as a widget, to a more traditional Web portal, to anexecutable client. For an example telephone handset, the interaction istailored to the available display space, resolution and/or user inputmechanism (e.g., keypad, full keyboard, touch screen, voice activation,etc.), where the functionality is optionally similar to the provided viathe computer, although in some cases optionally reduced in scope. FIGS.2-4 provide example embodiments of various user interfaces.

Additional optional ways in which the archived information may beutilized include some or all of the following:

Data synchronization is optionally provided which enables data (such assome or all of the data discussed above) from an archive to be accessedand/or utilized by a remote handset. For example, if user needs tosearch for contacts beyond the manageable number of contacts the handsetcan manage (e.g., wherein not all the contacts are stored on thehandset), the system automatically reaches back into the archive storedremote from the handset to locate contacts stored in the archive basedon user search terms or index selection (e.g., contacts beginning withthe letter “A”). A user can similarly access archived call logs, messagetext, etc.

Text reply or call back to a call log entry automatically causes one ormore databases (e.g., SS7 databases) to be queried if call log entry isolder than a certain date. By way of example, if a call log entry orresponse to a search query is older than a year, the system may beconfigured to automatically query a database (e.g., an LNP database) todetermine if the number has been ported to another carrier or has beenprovisioned to another user.

Accumulating usage information that can drive the Customer RelationshipManagement (CRM) engine. For example, some or all of the followinginformation can be obtained, stored, and used to determine whattelecommunication services one or more participants might be interestedin:

who a subscriber has been calling;

who has called the subscriber;

how many people the subscriber has called;

how many long distances calls the subscriber has placed;

how many video calls the subscriber has placed/received;

how many calls have been to/from other subscribers of the carrier;

the duration of local and/or long distance calls;

the timing of calls (e.g., how many during prime hours, how many duringnon-peak hours/on weekends);

how many text message (e.g., SMS messages), multimedia messages (e.g.,MMS messages) and/or photographs/videos the subscriber has sent and/orreceived;

etc.

FIG. 5 depicts an example embodiment in which an extensive storagearchitecture is utilized to provide a service to a wireless subscriberof a carrier (e.g., a Carrier Partner). In this example embodiment, acaller calls a subscriber's mobile phone, the caller records a messageon a voice answering service hosted by a server, transcribes themessage, and the subscriber receives a transcription of the message.Later, the subscriber utilizes the extensive storage architecture tosearch for a personal call and replies to the call using text. Thecarrier mines/analyzes the archive and, based on the subscriber's usage,sends a message (e.g., a CRM message) to the subscriber promoting aservice that would be of interest to the subscriber (e.g., where theservice is related to message content and/or the subscriber'sutilization of call related services). The example process is describedbelow.

State 1. A Caller dials the subscriber's mobile phone number/address (orother phone-type address). This call is routed through the PSTN to acarrier (e.g., a CP). In this example embodiment, the caller places acall to the subscriber's mobile phone. The call routes through the SS7network to the Mobile Switching System (MSC) currently serving thesubscriber.

State 2. The MSC detects a condition, (e.g., a WIN trigger set on thesubscriber's phone address) and transmits a message over a network tothe call manager so that the call manger can log the call and/or performalternate routing. Optionally, the message transmission occurs whetheror not the call eventually gets conditionally forwarded on a busy or noanswer condition.

State 3. The subscriber does not answer after a specified number ofrings or amount of time. This no answer condition is detected by the MSCand causes the MSC to forward the call to the call manager (an enhancedservice provider platform and/or call processing system) in accordancewith a previously configured forwarding configuration. In the forwardedcall, the MSC includes some or all of the call signaling informationassociated with the call, including, for example, the caller phonenumber/address, a privacy indicator, a designation of whether the callwas a forwarded call, and/or the called party identifier (e.g., phonenumber/address or account number).

State 4A. The receiving call manager verifies the called phone addressis that of a customer (e.g., a subscriber of a service offered by theoperator of the call processing system and/or other entity having anaccount associated with the call processing system), optionally bydetermining if the called phone address or other identifier associatedwith the called party matches a customer number in the customer database(which stores customer account records).

State 4B. The call processing system queries the session manager toobtain some or all of the following: service configuration for thecustomer being called, the customer's call location, the customer'sonline status (e.g., online or offline with respect to a data network,such as the Internet), and contact information for the caller.

State 4C. Optionally, the session manager notifies the customer'stelecommunications client (e.g., a Widget, a phone portal page, ortelecommunication client as shown in FIG. 5), if online, that there isan incoming call. The client displays the call in its active call window(e.g., a call alert user interface) with the status set to “ringing”. A“Take Call” button on the telecommunications client is available to thecustomer to take action on the call (e.g., establish duplexcommunications with the caller, transfer the call, etc.).

State 4D. The call manager begins playing a greeting (e.g., a cannedgreeting or a greeting prerecorded by the customer, such as one thatstates the customer's name and/or asks the caller to leave a message) tothe caller and the call processing system notifies thetelecommunications client to cause the active call display to show“greeting caller”.

State 4E. The call manager plays a record tone and begins recording amessage from the caller.

State 4F. The call manager notifies the telecommunications client tochange the active call display to “recording”. The call manager thenbegins streaming the audio over the Internet to be played by thetelecommunications client in substantially real-time.

State 4G. The call manager records a message and stores it in memory(e.g., in association with the subscriber's account or other subscriberidentifier). The call manager logs the call and optionally updates thecall frequency information for the contact (e.g., the call managertracks the total number of calls received from a given phone addressand/or caller, wherein the “total number of calls” can be the totalnumber of calls received from a specific date, within a specified timeperiod, or otherwise). The telecommunications client or call log webpage clears the active call display and optionally adds the call to thetop of the call log. This is a new caller for this subscriber so thecall manager also queries a database (e.g., the CNAM database in the SS7Network) to get the name associated with the calling phone address andthen automatically creates a new contact if one does not already existfor the calling phone address.

State 5. The voice message is transcribed to text (automatically oroptionally in whole or in part by a human) and stored in a callprocessing system database in association with a subscriber identifier.Optionally, one or more transcription passes are applied to the voicemessage. For example, a first pass transcription is applied to get thegist of the message or enough information (e.g., the first 10 seconds(or other specified time period) of the message and/or the last 10seconds of the message) to communicate in a short message including thetext (e.g., an SMS or MMS message). A second pass or full transcriptionfollows in the background and the voice and text message is archived ina storage system. Optionally, a per caller contact database is queriedto determine if the message should be transcribed to text or not.

State 6A. In this example, the subscriber is notified of the call andmessage on their wireless phone via SMS. The message contains textgiving the gist of the voice message, e.g., urgency, call to action,recorded phone address. A Short Message Service or MMS service withinthe call processing system composes a Short Message (SM) or a multimediamessage (MM), addresses it to the customer's mobile phone (or otherdevice capable of receiving Short Messages or an MM designated by thesubscriber via the telecommunications client or via the accountmanagement Web page) and sends the message to an SMSC. The sessionmanager optionally stores a copy of the message in a data base or filesystem associated with the customer's account.

State 6B. The SMSC transmits the received message to the MSC.

State 6C. The MSC transmits a notification to the subscriber's mobilephone informing the mobile phone (or other designated communicationsdevice) there is a message waiting.

State 6D. A Message Waiting Indicator (MWI) update is transmitted (e.g.,using an SMPP interface over a data network) to update the MWI icon onthe wireless phone to indicate that there is a message waiting.

State 7. In this example, the subscriber is also alerted of the call viaa Voice Mail Widget and/or computer client (which are optionally CPbranded) on all or a selection portion of the subscriber's computersthat are online and have their corresponding widget and/or clientrunning.

State 8. At a later date (e.g., a year later), the subscriber needs toget back in touch with the caller. In this example, the subscriberaccesses their Carrier Partner branded phone portal (or other branded ornon-branded interface) which among other features and services includesan archive (or access to an archive) of the subscriber's calls,messages, and contacts. By way of example, the subscriber could accessthe Phone Portal by clicking on a Widget control which presents theirCarrier Partner branded Web Phone Portal. From the Portal, thesubscriber optionally initiates a search or sort on their organizedcalls, messages, and/or contacts.

State 9. The Web Server provides the search text provided or selected bythe subscriber to the Search Engine so that it can quickly find relevantvoice and text messages and/or contacts. In this example the searchspans both short term and longer term storage. Optionally, thesubscriber can limit the search to certain date ranges, communicationinitiators (e.g., to a certain caller or called party; a certain textmessage originator or recipient, etc.) and data sources.

State 10. In response to the search request, the search engine generatesa list of search results (optionally ordered by relevancy, with the mostrelevant listed first or by date, where the subscriber can optionallyspecify the ordering to be used) and transmits the results to thesubscriber. The subscriber is presented in a user interface with theresults or a portion thereof (e.g., the relevant messages). For voicemessages, the text is also displayed and the cursor can be moved to adesired point in the displayed text to start playing the voice message.Thus, the text can act as an index to the corresponding voice message.

State 11. The subscriber decides to send a text message to the callerafter reviewing the results response from the search request. Thesubscriber in this example decides to send a text message using theirSMS Widget. Optionally there is an automated interaction from the WebPhone Portal which prepopulates the subscriber's SMS Widget or the userselects a control from the Web Phone Portal which launches an SMS Widgetor equivalent user interface. The message send request is transmittedover a network from the SMS widget client through the Web Server to theSMS Server.

State 12. The SMS Server queries a database (e.g., the LNP database inthe SS7 Network) to determine the current carrier, as the originalcaller may have ported to another carrier.

State 13. The SMS Server transmits the message for delivery to theoriginal caller/contact's wireless phone via the SMSC. The SMS Serverlogs the transaction including the text of the message. The text log isavailable to the subscriber for later review, search, and sorting.

State 14. In this example embodiment, based on an analysis of loggedactivity for the subscriber, the CRM Engine notices a usage pattern(e.g., who the user has been calling, who has called the user, how manypeople the user has called, how many long distances calls the user hasplaced, how many video calls the user has placed/received, how manycalls have been to/from other subscribers of the carrier, the durationof local and/or long distance calls, the timing of calls (e.g., how manyduring prime hours, how many during non-peak hours/on weekends), howmany text messages or multimedia messages (e.g., SMS or MMS messages)and/or photographs/videos the user has sent and/or received, etc.) thatmatches the market profile for a new service the carrier (e.g., aCarrier Partner) is offering, so the call processing system sends anemail or SMS message, or displays a message in the widget, Phone Portal,or telecommunications client to that subscriber encouraging them to tryit out, optionally on a free trial basis. For example, the service maybe a call-related service and/or a different rate plan then that thesubscriber is currently under.

While the above examples refer to calls forwarded to the call processingsystem (e.g., on a ring-no-answer, busy, or call forward all condition),the calls optionally could have been placed to a virtual phone numberassociated with the customer and “owned” by the call processing system,so that calls to the virtual phone number are received at the callprocessing system without needing to be forwarded (e.g., whichterminates directly on the call processing system). Further, whilecertain of the above examples refer to transmission of an SMS messageover a mobile network to a customer mobile phone, other message types(e.g., email or instant messages) can be transmitted over other types ofnetworks (e.g., an Internet protocol network) or other device types(e.g., an Internet protocol phone).

It should be understood that certain variations and modifications of thesystems and processes described herein would suggest themselves to oneof ordinary skill in the art. The scope of the present invention is notto be limited by the illustrations or the foregoing descriptionsthereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of processing a call comprising:receiving at a call processing system a first call from a callerintended for a first person; storing a voice communication from thecaller; converting a first subset of words in a first portion of thecaller's voice communication into text at least partly in response todetermining that the first portion of the caller's voice communicationis to be converted into text; transmitting, by the call processingsystem, a notification regarding the first call to a terminal associatedwith the first person; converting a set of words, including some or allwords, in the first portion of the caller's voice communication intotext, wherein the set of words is larger than the first subset of words,and the set of words includes one or more words in the first subset ofwords; enabling the first person to search the first subset of words ofvoice communication text, the set of words of voice communication text,or the first subset of words of voice communication text and the set ofwords of voice communication text, for one or more search termsspecified by the first person; obtaining first search resultscorresponding to a search query from the first person; providing thefirst person with the first search results: wherein the first searchresults include at least a portion of the text of the voicecommunication; enabling the first person to position a cursor within theat least a portion of the text included in the first search results toindicate where playback of the voice communication is to be performed;enabling the first person to edit the text and/or call signalinginformation; and promoting one or more services based at least in parton content of the first subset of words of voice communication text, theset of words of voice communication text, or the first subset of wordsof voice communication text and the set of words of voice communicationtext.
 2. The method as defined in claim 1, the method furthercomprising: receiving call signaling information associated with thefirst call; storing at least a portion of the call signaling informationassociated with the first call; and providing at least a portion of thecall signaling information associated with the first call in associationwith the first search results.
 3. The method as defined in claim 1, themethod further comprising enabling the first person to assign and/oredit a name in a contact record associated with the caller.
 4. Themethod as defined in claim 1, wherein the conversion of at least thefirst portion of the caller's voice communication to text is performedby an electronic system, a human transcriber, or a combination of theelectronic system and the human transcriber.
 5. The method as defined inclaim 2, wherein the call signaling information includes a nameassociated with the caller.
 6. The method as defined in claim 1, themethod further comprising: determining if one or more keywords areincluded in the first portion of the caller's voice communication; andat least partly in response to determining that the first portion of thevoice communication includes at least one of the one or more keywords,including the at least one keyword in the text converted from the firstsubset of words in the first portion.
 7. The method as defined in claim6, wherein the one or more keywords include activity words.
 8. Themethod as defined in claim 1, the method further comprising: accessing alead-in-text count from computer readable memory; and converting aninitial portion of the caller's voice communication into a firstquantity of text wherein the first quantity is not to exceed a secondquantity, wherein the second quantity is based at least in part on thelead-in-text count.
 9. The method as defined in claim 1, the methodfurther comprising: accessing a time period value from computer readablememory; and converting an initial portion, having a first time length,of the caller's voice communication into text wherein the first timelength does not exceed a second time length, wherein the second timelength is based at least in part on the time period value.
 10. Themethod as defined in claim 1, the method further comprising indexing thefirst subset of words corresponding to the first portion of voicecommunication text to enhance search performance.
 11. A method ofprocessing a call comprising: receiving at a call processing system afirst call from a caller directed to a first called party; storing avoice communication from the caller; converting a first subset of wordsin a first portion of the caller's voice communication into text atleast partly in response to determining that the first portion of thecaller's voice communication is to be converted into text; transmitting,by the call processing system, a notification regarding the first callto a terminal associated with the first person; converting a set ofwords, including some or all words, in the first portion of the caller'svoice communication into text, wherein the set of words is larger thanthe first subset of words, and the set of words includes one or morewords in the first subset of words; enabling, via at least one computingsystem, the first person to search the first subset of words of voicecommunication text, the set of words of voice communication text, or thefirst subset of words of voice communication text and the set of wordsof voice communication text, for one or more search terms specified bythe first called party; obtaining first search results corresponding toa search query from the first person; providing the first called partywith the first search results: wherein the first search results includeat least a portion of the text of the voice communication; enabling thefirst person to position a cursor within the at least a portion of thetext included in the first search results to indicate where playback ofthe voice communication is to be performed; enabling the first person toedit the text and/or call signaling information; and promoting one ormore services based at least in part on content of the first subset ofwords of voice communication text, the set of words of voicecommunication text, or the first subset of words of voice communicationtext and the set of words of voice communication text.
 12. The method asdefined in claim 11, the method further comprising: receiving callsignaling information associated with the first call; storing at least aportion of the call signaling information associated with the firstcall; and providing at least a portion of the call signaling informationassociated with the first call in association with the first searchresults.
 13. The method as defined in claim 11, the method furthercomprising enabling the first called party to assign and/or edit a namein a contact record associated with the caller.
 14. The method asdefined in claim 11, wherein the conversion of at least the firstportion of the caller's voice communication to text is performed by anelectronic system, a human transcriber, or a combination of theelectronic system and the human transcriber.
 15. The method as definedin claim 11, the method further comprising: determining if one or morekeywords are included in the first portion of the caller's voicecommunication; and at least partly in response to determining that thefirst portion of the voice communication includes at least one of theone or more keywords, including the at least one keywords in the textconverted from the first subset of word corresponding to the firstportion.
 16. The method as defined in claim 15, wherein the one or morekeywords include activity words.
 17. The method as defined in claim 11,the method further comprising: accessing a lead-in-text count fromcomputer readable memory; and converting an initial portion of thecaller's voice communication into a first quantity of text wherein thefirst quantity is not to exceed a second quantity, wherein the secondquantity is based at least in part on the lead-in-text count.
 18. Themethod as defined in claim 11, the method further comprising: accessinga time period value from computer readable memory; and converting aninitial portion, having a first time length, of the caller's voicecommunication into text wherein first time length does not exceed asecond time length, wherein the second time length is based at least inpart on the time period value.
 19. The method as defined in claim 11,the method further comprising indexing the first subset of wordscorresponding to the first portion of voice communication text toenhance search performance.
 20. A system comprising: at least onecomputer processor and non-transitory memory, which is operablyconnected to the at least one computer processor, and embodied with acomputer program comprising instructions that when executed by the atleast one computer processor cause the at least one computer processorto perform operations comprising: receiving a first call from a callerdirected to a first called party; storing a voice communication from thecaller; converting a first subset of words in a first portion of thecaller's voice communication into text at least partly in response todetermining that the first portion of the caller's voice communicationis to be converted into text; transmitting a notification regarding thefirst call to a terminal associated with the first person; converting aset of words, including some or all words, in the first portion of thecaller's voice communication into text, wherein the set of words islarger than the first subset of words, and the set of words includes oneor more words in the first subset of words; enabling the first person tosearch the first subset of words of voice communication text, the set ofwords of voice communication text, or the first subset of words of voicecommunication text and the set of words of voice communication text, forone or more search terms specified by the first called party; obtainingfirst search results corresponding to a search query from the firstperson; providing the first called party with the first search results:wherein the first search results include at least a portion of the textof the voice communication; enabling the first person to position acursor within the at least a portion of the text included in the firstsearch results to indicate where playback of the voice communication isto be performed; enabling the first person to edit the text and/or callsignaling information; and promoting one or more services based at leastin part on content of the first subset of words of voice communicationtext, the set of words of voice communication text, or the first subsetof words of voice communication text and the set of words of voicecommunication text.